Analyzing Visual Arguments
• Visual arguments use images to engage viewers
and persuade them to accept a particular idea or
point of view.
• Advertisements are only one type of visual
argument.
• Any argument, visual or verbal, contains 3
main elements:
– Claims
– Evidence
– Assumptions
Verbal Claims vs. Contextual Claims
• A sign or wording in a photograph makes a claim.
• However, the claim made by the photograph itself
may be more complex.
• Thus, you need to consider a visual claim in context.
• Think critically about the image and the claims it
may be making.
• Image claims often require interpretation and
analysis.
• And those interpretations and analyses are often
subjective.
Testing Claims
• Claims are declarative statements that are either true or
false, but not both.
• An argument is a series of claims one of which is the
conclusion or proposition you are using as the main
thrust of your argument.
• In written argument, the proposition is usually stated
explicitly as a thesis statement or research hypothesis.
• However, in visual arguments, the central claim and
subclaims are often implicit.
Weighing Evidence
• Visual arguments use several types of
evidence to support their claims.
• Again, the evidence may be implicit or
explicit.
• They may use facts, examples, expert
opinions, and appeals to beliefs or
needs to support their claim/s.
Analyzing Visual Arguments
• How does the design of the visual enhance or hinder the
argument?
• What emotional appeals does the argument elicit, and how?
• What ethical appeals make the visual argument credible? Does
it call on any authorities or symbols to establish character or
credibility?
• How does the visual argument make logical appeals? Do
words and images work together to create a logical causeeffect relationship? How are any examples used?
• What claim/s does the visual argument make?
• What reasons are attached to the claim, and how well are they
supported by evidence?
• What assumptions/s underlie the claim and the reasons?
Visual analysis is ego-driven. The analysis reveals the
person making the analysis—not really the photo itself.
You analysis is your own reaction to the photo.
• What people and/or
objects are show?
• How are they
arranged?
• What is the physical
setting?
• What other details
can you see?
• What’s going on in the
photo?
• Who are the people
and what are they
doing?
• What might be the
function of the
surroundings?
Remember:
• Always evaluate visual evidence critically.
• Analyze the visual argument carefully, and ask
yourself if the evidence is both accurate and
adequate.
• Visual information can be distorted or manipulated
just as words can.
• Make sure the visual evidence is fair, precise, and
credible before using it as a basis for argumentation.
• There are strategies of visual rhetoric that you can employ in
academic, professional, and civic settings.
• Visual literacy is essential to becoming a savvy consumer, and
cultural critic.
• Various camera techniques, including distance from subject,
orientation to image, eye gaze, and point of view influence the
effects the image will have upon the viewer.
• The settings, furnishings, and props in an image carry
significant social meanings, and often create stories that carry
both obvious and subtle messages.
• Advertisers target specific audiences and then use a variety of
strategies, many of them, visual, to move the hearts and minds
of their target audience.